Kerala government plans to rehabilitate nurses from Iraq

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The nurses have already indicated they would like to attend a training course in order to prepare for the the Middle East qualifying examinations."

Thiruvananthapuram, July 31 - The 350 Kerala nurses who returned from strife-torn Iraq have been asked to attend a meeting here Aug 6 to discuss their job prospects, an official said Thursday.

The decision to ask the nurses to attend was made at a meeting with the owners of private hospitals in the state and the Middle-East Thursday.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, P. Sudeep, CEO of Roots Norka, a state agency set up for the welfare of non-resident Keralites, told IANS.

Norka had opened a helpline for all nurses who returned from Iraq after trouble broke out in the country.

Forty six nurses returned from Iraq last month on a special flight and many others had returned earlier.

At today's (Thursday's) meeting, there were representatives of 17 private hospitals - seven from abroad and 10 from here. The owners of hospitals from the state said they will be happy to provide jobs, while those from abroad said they can provide employment after the nurses pass an eligibility exam mandatory in those countries, said Sudeep.

He said a meeting will be held Aug 6 wherein the nurses and the state government officials can interact.

The nurses have already indicated they would like to attend a training course in order to prepare for the the Middle East qualifying examinations.

Those nurses who have abruptly returned from Iraq had secured the job by paying close to Rs.2 lakh as fees. Many of them took loans to pay the fees.

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